Sensex, Nifty Trade On A Choppy Note; Metal Stocks Witness Selling Pressure

Indian share markets continue to trade flat with a negative bias during the morning trade. Loses are largely seen in metal stocks and PSU stocks. Consumer durables stocks, realty stocks and bank stocks trade in green.

The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 55 points and the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 25 points. The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.1% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.2%. The rupee is trading at 64.93 to the US$.

In news from pharma sector, as per an article in The Livemint, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd is likely in advanced discussions to acquire the domestic formulations business of Unichem Laboratories Ltd for Rs 32-33 billion.

As per the reports, Torrent Pharma has been looking to expand its presence in the domestic market and Unichem has a good portfolio, particularly its Losar brand of drugs in the cardiovascular space. In 2016-17, Torrent Pharma’s domestic business revenue was Rs 19.77 billion, up 8% YoY. Concerns over valuations have kept foreign buyers away from the pure generic drugs business in India.

Until September 2017, there have been 27 mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals in the pharma and healthcare sector, valued at US$719 million, which is much lower than the 54 deals, valued at US$4.7 billion, in calendar year 2016.

Torrent Pharma share price was trading up by 0.2% while Unichem Labs share price is trading down by 1.9% on the BSE.

In news from IPO segment, Mahindra Logistics Ltd, the logistics arm of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) has raised Rs 2.47 billion by selling shares to institutional investors as part of its anchor book allocation.

Shares were allocated to 15 investors at Rs 429 apiece, the upper end of the price band of Rs 425-429 for the IPO. The Rs 8.29 billion IPO opens today and closes on 2 November.

In another development, New India Assurance (NIA), the country’s largest general insurance company said a part of the proceeds from Rs 96 billion initial public offer would help maintain solvency margin over 2 times. Currently, solvency margin stands at 2.27 times as against the regulatory requirement of 1.5 times.